Richard Ugbah of Nigeria filed a lawsuit, which the ECOWAS Court of Justice dismissed on Thursday. In it, he requested that the US government grant him permission to serve out the remainder of his jail term in Nigeria.
Ugbah was found guilty of wire fraud on February 14, 2017, and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in the United States.
He is scheduled for release on May 8, 2026, having completed serving eight years of his sentence.
Ugbah asked the court to order his repatriation to Nigeria in the suit bearing the markings ECW/CCJ/ APP/ 18/21, citing his fulfillment of the requirements outlined in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Handbook on the International Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
On the other hand, the Federal Republic of Nigeria argued in a preliminary objection that the application was incompetent and that it violated Articles 9 and 10 of the Article Supplementary Protocol.
The FG pointed out that the second respondent, the Ministry of Justice, was neither an ECOWAS Treaty signatory nor a community institution.
However, it urged the court to reject the application, stating that it was outside of its jurisdiction to consider the case.
Justice Sengu Koroma held, after reading the lead judgment, that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
Additionally, the applicant failed to provide a reasonable justification for their complaint against the respondent, according to the court.
The court held that the question of competence is a legal one and that the applicant’s argument lacked legal support, giving the court the right to hear the case and make a decision.
